Burma Brave

A young blogger and a writer who disguised an attack on the country’s dictator in the form of a love poem have received heavy jail sentences, in the latest blow to opponents of Burma’s military dictatorship.

Nay Myo Kyaw, a 28-year old man who blogged under the name Nay Phone Latt, was sentenced to 20 years and six months in jail by a court in Rangoon. The poet, Saw Wai, received a two year sentence for an eight-line Valentine’s Day verse published in a popular magazine.

They join more than 2,000 other political prisoners in Burma’s jails, half of whom have been incarcerated since last September’s “Saffron Revolution”, when tens of thousands of Buddhist monks and political activists took to the streets in a failed uprising against the junta.

Saw Wai’s poem, entitled ‘14th February’, was ostensibly a Valentine’s Day verse published last January in a popular weekly magazine. “You have to be in love truly, madly, deeply and then you can call it real love,” it read. “Millions of people who know how to love, please clap your hands of gilded gold and laugh out loud.” But the first word of each line spelled out a pithier message about the leader of the country’s military government: “Power Crazy Senior General Than Shwe”. Saw Wai was arrested the next day.

Nay Phone Latt, who runs a blog describing the difficulties of day to day life in Rangoon, was regarded as an inspirational figure among Burmese bloggers. He was also convicted of crimes against 'public tranquility', and was expected to receive only a 10-12 year sentence. His 20-year sentence shocked even the most hard-line observers.

According to Bo Kyi, of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Burmese exile group based in Thailand, said: “Trials of political activists are totally unlawful. There is no possibility of justice through these proceedings. Detainees are being denied food and water during hearings and are forced to stand for long periods of time. When they try to protest by turning their backs to the court, they are grabbed by the neck and forced to face the court. These proceedings amount to further mental torture for activists.”